Pat Hunter:
CLASS OF 1961
Leavenworth High SchoolClass of 1961
Leavenworth, KS
Pat's Story
Life has been good, bad and everything in between since graduating from LHS. The highs were beyond any happiness I could have ever anticipated, and the lows were.... well, I survived them. All in all, it's been a great ride.
It was so wonderful seeing many of you again at our 25th reunion (class of '61) and I still smile when I remember that weekend. Let's do it again sometime, maybe for the 50th?
I went on to Newcomb College (Tulane University) after leaving Leavenworth, but transfered to the University of Georgia to be closer to my mother and brother in Atlanta when my Dad died that year. I finished UGA with a degree in journalism, worked two years for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and then took off for Europe to live abroad for two years.
Through sheer luck, I walked into the offices of an Enlgish-language civilian newspaper in Germany and was hired as a reporter on the spot. The next two years of exploring, learning another language and meeting people from all different cultures were probably the most defining of my life.
Back in Atlanta, I went to work as public relations director for the American Heart Association and met my husband Hank Hunter, executive director of the American Heart Assoc. for Florida and Puerto Rico. So off to St. Petersburg, FL, to make a new life with him.
Life with Hank was a great love story, the kind I always assumed I would have when I was young and stupid. But it really happened. Unfortunately, I lost him to Alzheimer's after a long, sad struggle.
Of course I thought my life was over at this point and was surprised, three years later, to meet a man who wanted me to be his first mate aboard his 43-ft sailboat and go around the world with him. The love didn't survive, but what a trip!!!
We cruised the Abacos, Exumas, crossed the Atlantic to the Azores, then on to Portugal, Spain...Expand for more
, France, the Channel Islands, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales... two years on the seas. If you have an interest in cruising, you can go to the captain's site (he's still out there) at sailpolaris.com. My part of the trip, for which I wrote and photographed his website, is from the St. Petersburg leg (in the index) through the British Isles.
That experience bounced me back into life and I will always be grateful for the extraordinary opportunity to see so much of the world and meet some truly amazing people.
Back home in St. Pete now, I live in a loft and continue painting, teaching art and exhibiting. Oh, I began painting and teaching art when Hank was diagnosed, knowing that I would need to have a business that could be run from our home in order to keep him at home as long as possible.
I share my life with my cat Busby and my wonderful partner, Ed. We travel frequently, and, as Ed recently told someone, "we've reached a place in our lives where the only thing we have to do is plan fun things to do and look for good places to eat."
My stepdaughter Ann is nearby and has added much to my happiness, along with my two grown grandchildren.
My brother Kelly, whom some of you will remember, lives in Atlanta with his wife and daughter (attending Colgate University in NY), three dogs and a cat. Life has been good to Kelly, too, and our families have remained close through the years.
For those friends who remember my very Southern Mother, she lived to the age of 92 (2001) and to the end was having her nails painted bright red, swearing that her show size was only 8 and insisting on wearing ladylike "pumps" rather than old-lady shoes. I miss her still.
I'd love to hear from those of you I shared fun times with at LHS. Please email me. The Internet makes staying in touch so easy these days.
Well, that's all, Pioneers.
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